WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. By John F. Bailey. March 31, 2004, Updated 2:20 P.M. E.S.T.: A 30 year old man, living at the Open Arms Shelter & Social Service Center at 86 East Post Road, is being considered a suicide by police after he fell into the path of a pedestrian at the corner of Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard and Martine Avenue, apparently, police said, falling from East Garage of The Galleria at 10:20 P.M. Tuesday evening. He was taken to Westchester County Medical Center Trauma center and died at 12:30 A.M.

Deputy Director of the Open Arms Shelter, Terri Dicosmo, told WPCNR Wednesday afternoon, that she did not recall the person, and that homeless people are welcome to stay at Open Arms until 10 PM each evening when they are then bused by the Department of Social Services to the county homeless shelter at Westchester County Airport. She was checking to see if the man had registered Tuesday evening before he fell to his death.

Lieutenant Nick Kralick of the White Plains Department of Public Safety said no note had been found at the scene, and that the man had not been wearing a shirt when he fell. Officer Kralick told WPCNR friends of his at the Open Arms Shelter had reported that the man, Claude M. Riddick, 30 years old, "indicated he may have been depressed."

Kralick said nothing in the medical report indicated the man had been inebriated, but the police were waiting for toxicology reports from the Medical Examiner. Kralick reported that "a woman with the same last name," had reported a conversation with Mr. Riddick, in which he talked about "the saving power of God," and that he seemed "depressed." Kralick said the police were attempting to find out if Mr. Riddick had been receiving medical help for depression. "At this time, we're looking at it (his death) as a suicide," Kralick said.

When asked if Open Arms Shelter had counselors on duty at the time of  Mr. Riddick's fall, Kralick said, no counselors were available at that time of night at the shelter.